NASA’s Curiosity rover vehicle that landed on Mars on August 6th, has sent back the first colour images of the planet’s dusty yellow/orange landscape. The image was taken with the camera on the rover’s still retracted robotic arm, from behind the dust shield designed to protect the camera.
The dust shield will be removed, promising better images, once the dust kicked-up by its landing has settled. This camera, known as MAHLI (Mars Hand Lens Imager), is primarily intended for examining close-up items.